Cathy Pearson, an elementary school teacher who recently bought her first home, in San Clemente, Calif., says she accepted as “a given” the title insurer chosen by real-estate agents involved in the transaction.

July 16 (Bloomberg) -- Fidelity National Financial Inc., the title insurer that called the industry an "oligopoly," agreed to sell assets in Oregon and Michigan to settle a regulatory review into anticompetitive practices.

On Oct. 7, another title insurer, Stewart Title, issued an internal memo making it incredibly difficult - if not impossible - for an agent to write a policy for any foreclosure property connected to any of the now-tainted banks.

According to court records, Schatz paid Allen Matkins nearly $180,000 in fees, but refused to pay another $170,000 after alleging that the firm had a conflict of interest in that it also represented his title insurer in an unrelated suit.